1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to brooder houses and feeding apparatus for raising poultry and more particularly, to an improved brooder feeding apparatus which is characterized by an elongated tube or trough provided with an internal auger, a feed hopper provided at one end of the tube or trough and a control box located at the opposite end thereof, with spaced drop tubes extending downwardly from the tube or trough and brooder pans located beneath the drop tubes. Feed is carried by the auger from the feed hopper through the tube or trough and is delivered into the drop tubes and brooder feed pans through openings located in the tube or trough. The drop tubes are sequentially provided with feed to fill the respective brooder feed pans beginning with the brooder feed pan closest to the feed hopper and the control box operates by means of a microswitch to terminate operation of the auger and distribution of the feed through the drop tubes when the feed fills the last brooder feed pan. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the entire brooder feeding apparatus is capable of being raised and lowered by means of supporting cables to adjust the volume of feed delivered to the brooder feed pans and to facilitate removal of the apparatus from the proximity of the brooder floor in the poultry house after approximately 2 to 3 weeks. Larger, conventional feeders located outside the brooding area are then used to feed the chicks to a market age of about 61/2 weeks.
Poultry such as broilers are typically grown in a structure approximately 38'.times.350' long. The poultry house is commonly divided transversely in half by a curtain which extends from the ceiling to the floor, thus making it possible to heat and cool one-half of the structure at a time. This heated area of the poultry house is the area where poultry such as small chickens ("chicks") are kept from birth to approximately 2 to 3 weeks of age, depending upon the outside temperature and prevailing weather. This area is called the brooder area of the chicken house and the chicks must reach several days of age before they will venture out from the brooder area to eat. Accordingly, feeder trays having a diameter of approximately 24 inches and one inch in height are typically placed close to heated brooders in the brooder area in order to insure that the hatched chicks eat, drink and stay warm until they are about seven days old. At this time, the chicks will begin to venture out of the brooder area and attempt to eat from the larger outside feeder pans. However, these outside feeder pans are typically three inches high and are designed for larger birds, so that many of the chicks starve from lack of feed, if no other source of food is provided during the first few days. The small brooder chicks must be fed in the brooder feed pans by hand at least twice daily during the first critical seven day period of time. Each chick eats approximately six tenths of a pound of feed by the time it is two weeks of age; accordingly, approximately five thousand pounds of feed should be dispensed by hand in the brooder area of a conventional poultry house over a two week period of time. The chicks will also consume about 3700 pounds of feed from the existing larger mechanical feeders by the time they reach two weeks of age. The existing mechanical feeders are primarily designed to feed only the larger chickens after 2 to 3 weeks of age. The brooder feeding apparatus of this invention delivers feed to the young chicks automatically, at least twice daily, in 5 to 12 minutes of total feed-distribution time, saving extensive hand labor. Most poultry farmers own two to four poultry houses, each with a capacity of about 14,000 chickens. Accordingly, about 10,000-20,000 pounds of feed should be placed in the brooder feed pans by hand during the entire brooding period, while feeding of the larger chickens is accomplished by automatic mechanical feeders.